


Knit One, Purl One

by Mx_Axolotl



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Knitting & Crocheting, M/M, Post-Canon, References to sex but no scenes depicted, Uprising Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mx_Axolotl/pseuds/Mx_Axolotl
Summary: Hermann hasn't seen Newt all day but his worries aren't what they appear when he finds a little friend awaiting him at bedtime.Inspired by a conversation on Twitter where Hermann knits and teaches Newt to crochet as an outlet for his restless energy.





	Knit One, Purl One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [singagainsoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/singagainsoon/gifts), [buckgaybarnes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckgaybarnes/gifts).



Hermann hasn’t seen Newt all afternoon.

Well, that’s not _entirely_ accurate - he hasn’t seen him for more than ten seconds all afternoon. He gets a glimpse and then the biologist is scurrying off, looking much like he does when a prank has gone horribly wrong and Hermann has had to get out of the lab before he strangled the shorter man to death with Kaiju entrails. He thinks that’s what it is, naturally, but when he looks over everything on his side of the lab - three times - absolutely nothing is misplaced. Nothing broken. Nothing trip-wired or glued down or covered in any kind of deep-sea-monster-organic matter. Which is troubling in itself but more because Hermann has no clue why Newt would continue to scurry away from him _all_ midday.

His feelings are beginning to take the hit of his partner’s behavior but none more so than when he goes into his room after dinner - which they usually take together, now that all is said and done, but. Well... so Hermann sits, knitting materials on one side of his chair and unfinished project across his lap. It’s a blanket for them to share when winter comes rattling through the Shatterdome. He figures by the time he gets it to the right dimensions, every white and silver knot within a scale representation of how the indigo sky had looked above them the night they drifted, that the first slurries of frozen rain will descend upon the Hong Kong coast. That is, if he can fight for motivation to get enough done during this sitting to keep on schedule...

Usually Newt would be beside him, nattering away about the day, who he talked to, how Mako and Raleigh are doing, who Tendo has his sights on that week, but best of all, the places he wants to take Hermann for a long overdue vacation.

“Call it a honeymoon.” Newt had said, a chuckle in his voice and Hermann had frozen, glanced over to his friend, partner, lover. Newt had met his gaze and smiled softly, far more tame and affectionate than he’d ever smiled to anything or anyone else he held dear - Kaiju specimens included. Even his voice was softer when he added, “We’ve waited long enough, don’t you think?”

Hermann snaps out of the memory when the needles jar together unsteadily and he has to spend a minute undoing a mistake because his mind isn’t focused and it’s like he’s seven years old again, learning how to knit by himself. Newt must have his reasons but he’ll still give him a thorough telling off when he sees him again.

For more than a few seconds, that is.

Which comes just as he’s about to call it a day, have a hot bath and climb into bed. Alone, he thinks, but his partner barges through the door, the zip up hoodie he’s taken to wearing in place of his dearly departed leather jacket, rolled up under his arm in a lumpy mass.

Newt sweeps in and kisses him, mouth going a mile a minute about his day and Hermann catches himself smiling, besotted, until he remembers he’s supposed to be cross with the man.

"Where _were_ you all day? I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you, haven’t gotten 200 text messages...” It’s the tone he uses in the lab when Kaiju blue begins to eat away at the corner of his chalkboards. Again. And Newt is standing like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide as he stares at him guiltily. Which is what deflates Hermann’s ire instantly. He sighs.

“You missed our Yarn Time...” Hermann's cheeks pink using the term Newt coined for their activity but his partner seems to register the sentiment. Newt swallows and sighs, hand at the back of his head and scratching the hairs that are in desperate need of a trim.

"I know, I.... had a thing. I’m sorry, Herms. I should’ve let you know. Um.” He glances over, pushing his glasses back up his nose and makes his way towards the mathematician. “Hey, I’ll make it up to you. Tomorrow. We’ll stay in bed and do nothing all day— or, I mean you’ll knit and I’ll crochet and we can stream that new series you’ve been wanting to watch. With the revolutionary war and the spies and yeah. How about that?”

It does sound pleasant and Newt’s waggling his brows and Hermann cracks a smile. His lover makes a noise of triumph and goes to his toes to kiss Hermann’s cheek, then his nose.

"Okay, but in the meantime c’mon dude, let’s get you settled in a nice hot bath.” With a familiar hand, Newt turns Hermann around and marches him towards their cramped bathroom. He disappears into the bedroom after running the water, returns in time to smack Hermann’s hands away from undoing his clothes to do it himself, then disappears again to get pajamas.

Newt doesn’t join him in the tub, but stays nearby and soaps, rinses and massages his aching muscles which was an acceptable substitute, given the kind of day it had been. But then he disappears again, to the kitchen to get some tea brewing and tells Hermann he’ll meet him in the bedroom.

Feeling a little lighter than earlier, Hermann limps the short distance to the bed and sits gratefully. A quiet ‘thump’ has him blinking and glancing around the dimly lit room. Nothing had fallen out of place nearby, as precariously perched as some of their belongings were, so he leans over to turn on a second lamp before looking behind him.

On the bed cover, on its front now, was a little figure. A doll? No, it was made of yarn so something knit? But he hadn’t made it and upon closer inspection, the stitches weren’t knit but crochet. It looked handmade, too. Glancing behind him, as if he were going to be caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he reaches out and picks it up.

On closer inspection, the grey yarn making up the majority of the approximately 12 inch plush, is more of a purple-blue-grey with a fine, soft sheen to it. Almost a metallic illusion. It becomes clear that the figure is a robot, with articulate arms and legs, even the head swivels a little bit when Hermann gently turns it. There are a few red marks here and there, distinguishing what must be plates in the armor and a couple of cannons on its back. He’s smiling and posing the little doll in action stances, when it hits him.

It’s not just a robot, it’s _a jaeger_.

And not just any jaeger, but _Coyote Tango_.

The machine his programming had birthed.

A handmade, crochet Mark I jaeger.

"That’s what took me all day.” Hermann starts at Newt’s voice and almost drops the jaeger, clutching it to his chest and looking a little wide and misty eyed. Surprisingly, Newt looks sheepish. “Those articulations were a nightmare, man, I had to rework the instructions and then figure out how to translate that and, ugh... and that yarn! I had to hunt that down— you’d think they would have a brand that sold color coordinated yarns specifically for jaegers and Kaiju because the—“

Newt stops his ramble only when Hermann pushes up, over to the doorframe and kisses him quiet. It’s always an effective tactic and Hermann needs to use it more often.

“You made this? For me?” He asks, a bit breathless when he pulls away. Newt tries to follow and Hermann bites his bottom lip to contain the smile.

“Wha— yeah, I wanted to... to thank you for showing me how to crochet.” Newt’s blush brings out the freckles on his cheeks and Hermann dips in to kiss him soundly once more. Then again and again and again...

~

By the time snow is properly falling on and around the Shatterdome, Hermann has finished the knitted blanket and he and Newt curl under it regularly. Their room is still relatively cold but it’s cozy on the bed as they stream old shows they didn’t get around to watching because of the war. Hermann will knit while Newt either crochets or comments on the show’s plot. On the dresser where the laptop sits open, screen lit with entertainment, is a crocheted Coyote Tango with an arm around a knit Otachi. And when they inevitably forget about the episode and Newt puts their yarn, needles and hooks aside and pulls the blanket up above their heads to get even more cozy with the man he loves, Hermann doesn’t complain a stitch.


End file.
